Budget allocation sought to tackle climate change

Speakers at a workshop demanded an allocation to tackle the impacts of climate change in the upcoming budget to mitigate the losses and damages.

“We need huge amounts of money to mitigate the impacts of climate change,” said Ainun Nishat, professor emeritus of Brac University.

Nishat's comments came at a workshop styled “Climate Budgeting and Accountability in Bangladesh”, organised by the International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD) at Nascent Gardenia at Baridhara yesterday.

The government will allocate a large chunk of the budget for construction of roads next fiscal year as it is the election year, he said. “But, there is question how the money will be used,” he added.

Fahmida Khatun, executive director of the Centre for Policy Dialogue, said the government gives attention to businesspersons before preparing the national budget but not the civil society or others.

“For a long time we have been very vocal about a specific allocation for climate change but there has been no reflection in the budget,” she added.

The members of parliament have no idea about climate change, so they do not discuss the important issue in the house during the budget session, said Rashed Al Mahmud Titumir, chairman of Unnayan Onneshan.

He emphasised energy security to face the challenges of climate change.

The government completely failed to become a beneficiary of the $100 billion-fund committed by the developed countries to combat the effects of climate change, said Saleemul Huq, director of the ICCCAD. He also alleged that the finance ministry was not interested in allocating funds for climate change issue.

Paul Steele, chief economist for International Institute for Environment and Development, urged the media to give more coverage to issues pertaining to climate change to bring them to the government's attention.